𝙉𝙤𝙧𝙢𝙖𝙡 (𝙗𝙭𝙗)

Chapter Eleven

Cody P.O.V

Why now, of all times, did my phone have to go off? It seemed like reality was deciding that I should, in fact, reveal myself. I still silenced my phone, though, wondering what would happen now. There was barely anything protecting me from being seen aside from the slightly tinted bulletproof glass that the school's front doors had. One thing was certain, now that their attention was directed towards me, there was nothing that would be able to save me now.

An almost silence took over as the group's voices cut out, leaving only the sound of destruction and the faint shrill of sirens in the distance. If I closed my eyes, I could have almost pretended that nothing was happening, that everything was completely fine and normal. Of course, that would be a huge lie, and the last thing I needed was more lies, right? I don't think I could handle more lies.

"Reveal yourself," Nihilo demanded. His voice sounded weird, but I knew that was because of the voice changer hidden in his mask. I had asked about it when I was younger, and he had said it was to make himself sound more intimidating. Hearing it now, with the violent voice being directed at me, I could have almost laughed. This man was my father, but right now, it didn't really feel like it. "Now."

This was the side of my father that I never had to deal with, and now that I did, I didn't know how to feel. Apart of me wanted to disappear, leave Zach behind to deal with this on his own. It was his own fault that he was now in this situation. I could have disappeared, and maybe I should have, but I didn't.

I took a shaky breath as I willed myself to move towards my father in his villain disguise. A part of me was genuinely afraid, not for myself, because he wouldn't purposeful hurt me, but because of the situation in general. What if something happened? What if one of us accidentally revealed something that hinted that we knew each other? These worries filled my head as I took the final steps towards the front doors, my hand pausing on the handle that would reveal me to them when pushed open. I shoved down my fears and carefully pushed the door open.

I stepped out of the building with my hands raised, pretending to be scared. I think I had them fooled, well, except my father. I had to give him some credit for being able to mask his expression. The only thing that even remotely gave away some of my father's shock was his eyes which widened as he stared at me. I can only hope that I was the only one who noticed.

Before my father could do anything, though, the hero, having seemed to regain his strength, used the moment to attack my father with a sudden punch. The force of the hero's attack sent my father flying away, with the hero following swiftly behind. I knew that the only reason that the hero managed to land a successful punch was because my father was distracted with me, but a part of me was grateful because now we had an opportunity to escape. I ran over to Zach, who seemed unresponsive at first. I grabbed at his sleeve and began to drag him away from the fight.

"Come on! We got to go."

I think hearing my voice snapped him out of it because he picked up the pace and started running without me having to pull him along. I think we ran a few blocks before eventually stopping for a breather.

While catching our breaths, I pulled my phone out, hoping to find out if Hannah made it out of the school okay. Turns out, it was Hannah who had called me. Along with the missed call, there were several concerned texts, all of which came after we got separated. Based on how recent they were, I could say that they managed to getaway. I didn't have to tell Zach since, by the time I managed to interpret Hannah's messages, he had already received similar messages from his brother.

It went without saying that we were both quite relieved. It also went without saying that we both already knew that they would get away, even if the way they had to get out was unique. Not that they knew that I knew about it. This is why I made myself make conversation about how relieved I was that our friends made it out safely. "They made it out," I said, sighing in relief.

"I know. I was worried there for a second, especially when the rest of the building was starting to catch on fire and collapse," Zach admitted. "Thankfully, Hannah was there to help my brother out and I," He stepped closer, wrapping his arm around my shoulder. "Had you."

I instinctively shoved his arm off of me, disliking the sudden contact. If he was hurt by it, he didn't show it. I took a cautious step away from Zach, not wanting him to repeat the gesture.

"We should hurry," I mumbled. I mostly just wanted to get away from Zach, but it didn't help that the sun was starting to get to me. I wasn't going to let Zach know about it, though. I hid the steadily growing pain as we continued to walk away from the chaos behind us.

"So, where do you live?" Zach asked. I glanced at him, wondering whether I should answer him or not. I decided to go with the vaguest answer possible. I pointed in the direction of the skyscrapers that rose high above the rest of the city, all clustered together.

He followed the direction of my pointed finger. "Ahh, one of the fancy buildings, I see," He smiled, matching my pace. "I live in the residential part," I knew where he was talking about. It was the part of town that had more houses than apartment buildings. I nodded in understanding. It was reassuring to know that we didn't live anywhere close to each other.

"Do you have a way to get home?" I hesitantly asked after an awkward couple of minutes. I didn't want him to think that I necessarily cared, but at the same time, I didn't want him to follow me all the way home. "Since I doubt that school is going to resume for a bit since you know, it was on fire," and falling apart.

Zach paused, which made me stop too. I glanced back at him, looking at him confused. Did I say something wrong?

"You're strangely calm about all this," Zach stated almost accusingly. I schooled my expression, refusing to show anything that would give something away.

"What do you mean?" I asked nonchalantly. I wanted to come off as my cold, usual self since anything other than that would definitely come off as weird.

"Your school just got attacked, and you don't seem very fazed,"

I stared at him for a second. Was he serious right now? "You do realize this city is one of the most superhuman-infested places, right? Attacks like that happen all the time," I know that I might not have reacted like everyone else did, but at the same time, I was still right. These kinds of things did happen a lot here. I was hoping he would accept that answer, but he still looked a bit skeptical. Oh well, that was all he was going to get out of me.

"Liam, call for one of the cars to pick me up around sixth-street," My statement seemed to startle Zach, who looked at me like I was stupid until Liam responded promptly with an 'Of course, Cody.'

"Wait, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable," He almost reached out for my arm but stopped the motion when I glared at him. "I'm sorry if I did . . . make you uncomfortable, that is," His apology made me melt a bit.

"Do you have a way to get home?" I mumbled, continuing in the direction of sixth street. I was hoping he would say yes, and our walk together would end. Of course, after hearing that his answer was no, a part of me wished I had never asked the question in the first place. What to do now? Would it be rude if I just abandoned him? Did I need to offer him a ride home?

"I can order you a ride," I eventually offered. The last thing I wanted was to be trapped in a car with the weirdo. Of course, that's what happened, but it ended up being uneventful. It was weird not to have him talk, but he kept himself preoccupied with something on his phone during most of the ride. I think he was texting someone, but it was none of my business.

When we finally arrived at the location, Zach turned back to me before closing the door. "Thanks for saving me today, cutie," He said with a wink before closing the car door.

My face was red the rest of the drive home.